2009 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show Preview

The National Kitchen & Bath Association recognizes that industry professionals must see value in attending the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show. The success of this year’s show may be more reliant on that understanding than past years, and NKBA kept that in mind when planning this year’s show held in Atlanta this May.

“This year we expect attendance to be down as a result of the economy but not dramatically. We’ve seen other shows recently that were down a lot but we don’t expect to be down that much,” says Timothy Captain, public relations and editorial manager for NKBA.

The reason for Captain’s optimism is the change in educational offerings at the show. “This year we have to justify the expense a little more. K/BIS has always provided value but this year we made sure the [return on] investment is over the top,” Captain says. “We’ve had conference sessions in the past that focused exclusively on design, but now we added a number of sessions that focus only on business — specifically how to run your business in a challenging economy.”

K/BIS is focusing on green design, too; however, it has changed its approach to green topics. “We have an expert on green design but his focus is on how to use sustainable design to increase your sales,” Captain adds.

The Design Idea Center is experiencing a face-lift as it is now tied to the NKBA Design Competition. “This year we are showcasing the 40 designs from the design competition. People can see the winning designs that NKBA members came up with,” Captain adds.

Another significant change is the New Product Pavilion. “It’s now branded as the Best of K/BIS. [NKBA] has invested in a panel of judges so it will be more thoughtful this year than it has been in the past. It used to be a display of products that were at the show and now it will be a display of the best of the best at the show,” says Bill Darcy, senior marketing manager, NKBA. The products are judged by well-known professionals in the kitchen and bath industry. To view the products, please visit kbis.com and click on Best of K/BIS.

A highlight at this year’s show is the opening ceremony that features keynote speaker and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The opening ceremony is held Friday, May 1 at 8 a.m. For more information or to register for the show, visit kbis.com.